


You’re my best friend and I know I'm not yours (and that's okay)

by claudinedelyon



Category: SKAM (Italy)
Genre: Bracciano Boys, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Featuring Luca's terrible but well-meaning ideas, Friendship, Gen, POV Luca, Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21512764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/claudinedelyon/pseuds/claudinedelyon
Summary: The summer before he turns 17, Luca goes to Greece, stuffs himself into a suitcase and comes back with three best friends.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	You’re my best friend and I know I'm not yours (and that's okay)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this very cute song](https://youtu.be/F2DFezUThXk), from _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_. Feel free to imagine Luca stealing Nico's ukulele and singing this to the boysquad, I know I did.

When they are 9 years old, Luca Colosio and Lucio Costa swear that they will be best friends forever before shaking on it and sealing the deal by seeing who can ride his bike to the end of the street and back the fastest. Luca wins. And in the process, he gains his first best friend. Lucio lives two floors down, their parents get on pretty well, plus they share the same initials and have almost the same first name, so it seems almost meant to be.

When they are 13 years old, Lucio moves away because his mom has found a new job in Genoa. The friendship doesn't survive. Forever lasted four years. So, maybe not meant to be, then.

After that, because he’s never had trouble making friends, Luca continues hanging out with the friends he already had and new ones that come along, from school or from his neighborhood. Nobody sticks out like Lucio had, though, so he figures best friends may not always be for everybody.

The summer before he turns 17, Luca goes to Greece, stuffs himself into a suitcase and comes back with three best friends. He doesn't know it yet, of course. At this point they're just friends. But he has a good feeling.

Sure, Gio and Marti are basically a package deal, and Gio and Elia sometimes seem to be having whole conversations without uttering a single word, but Luca's fine with it. They've known each other for much longer.

And yes, at times, it’s hard to tell whether they’re laughing with him or at him, but he doesn’t mind. Making people laugh has always come easy to him and there are worse things to be known for. What matters is that they like having him around, they invite him places, they tell him about their inside jokes and they make room for him. They listen.

But then, school starts again, a few weeks pass, and things get weird.

There’s this party at Emma’s where Martino goes AWOL for the entire night, which is already strange, but things happen and he does have an explanation for that.

Except the guys throw a party for his birthday not that long after, and Martino’s not here. At first, he just thinks he’s late, even though that's out of character for him. But soon after they get to the bar and he discovers with relief he hasn’t been abandoned by all his friends, Gio and Elia start having hushed conversations, and Elia is looking _pissed_. Luca attempts to ask where Martino is, but every time, they just push whatever drink is on hand at him and make excuses. But Luca is not an idiot, and there is way too much checking of phones for any of these excuses to hold.

After that, things just keep going from strange to worrying. There’s a fight, and Luca’s never been involved in one before, especially not one between his own friends, and everybody’s hurt and confused, except for Martino who is suddenly nowhere to be seen. Again.

It turns out that the thing Martino was keeping to himself was that he likes a boy. It's one of those things that people need to keep to themselves sometimes. Back in middle school, when his dad had lost his job and struggled to find another one, they had had to cut back on, well, everything, and nobody had ever known. Luca gets that, but they're all glad when it's out.

Now, however, they know, and they can finally try to fix whatever happened with that boy and do it all together. Or they could, if he would just reply to Martino’s text.

After breakfast, they go traipsing through the woods around the lake in the cold. Luca finally agrees to put on a sweater at least, even if it puts his entire plan in jeopardy, because the guys won’t stop nagging him. They're in the woods because staying inside waiting for Martino's phone to do anything was getting them nowhere and the guy who is supposed to fix the heating isn’t coming for hours. The walk isn't getting them anywhere either, but at least they can say they tried to distract themselves.

"Still nothing?" Elia asks, even though they would know if Niccolò had replied. Martino perfunctorily takes out his phone and glances at it. He shakes his head, then kicks an already broken twig that’s laying on the ground.

Luca wishes he had a story to cheer him up or at least get him to think about something else. That's usually his thing, he always has a story. But right then, he's drawing a blank.

They keep walking in silence, and it isn't until he catches sight of the lake through the trees that he has a stroke of genius.

"Guys,” He cries out, startling the others. “I have the best idea!" Without elaborating, he makes a 90-degree turn and a beeline towards the water. Of course, it’s not so much a beeline as a slalom between the trees, but he manages.

"For fuck's sake," someone grumbles behind him. He doesn't know who says it, but they're following, that's all that matters. He stops at the edge of the water, which makes one of the guys stumble while the other two laugh.

"What the fuck are you doing now?" Gio asks, breathing hard but still sounding somewhat exasperated.

"What if I went into the lake?"

Nobody says anything for a moment.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Elia asks eventually.

"I'll get sick, right? There's gotta be at least a 90% chance it'll work."

When he turns to them, Elia and Gio are looking at each other and Martino is shaking his head again, but this time he's smiling.

"If you get into that lake, there's a 90% chance you'll die of hypothermia, you moron,” Elia replies while it’s Gio and Marti’s turn to exchange a look.

Luca doesn’t move, just looks at the water, but Gio takes a step in his direction.

He doesn’t actually intend on going through with it. Sure, he has those tests for which he really, really hasn't studied, and the grades will weigh heavily on his average. Tonsillitis would be a true lifesaver. But no, he's not going to do it.

"Luchi, come on, you can't be serious," Martino laughs.

"What? The house is not far and we know we can make a fire. We still have lots of that dry wood left. It's going to be fine. Trust me."

He‘s barely taken a step forward, just to see what they'll do, when Martino and Gio both grab his arms immediately.

"Oh my god, do you have a death wish?" Gio asks, effectively putting himself between Luca and the lake, as if he was expecting Luca to fight them on it.

Luca shrugs, trying to look disappointed. “Okay, okay, I’m not going to do it.”

The look of relief on their faces would be hilarious if it wasn’t also so satisfying.

They start making their way back after that, presumably in case Luca can come up with another idea. Elia and Martino are walking ahead and singing something, although Luca's pretty sure those are not the original lyrics, when Gio falls into step with him.

"You weren’t actually going to do that, right?"

"What?"

"Get into the lake. Please tell me that you weren’t, ‘cause that sounded really stupid, even by your standards."

Luca smiles and makes a helpless gesture.

"I'm so screwed for those tests, man, I'm desperate." Gio keeps looking at him and it is very hard to keep up any pretense when he does that. He can't help but glance towards Martino, and Gio notices, then follows his line of sight. "But maybe I'll find a better plan. I'm not giving up."

A slow smile appears on Gio's face as understanding dawns in his eyes. He pats Luca's shoulder, and it's more gentle than what he usually gets for his more questionable ideas.

"I don't know about 'better', but I’ve no doubt you'll find a plan. You're very good at that."

Luca takes a bow.

"Why, thank you for noticing."

In the end, he doesn't need a new plan because they finally get to meet Niccolò the next day. And after that, in the future, whenever he remembers that year, what always comes to his mind first was that it was the year when, even before he finally got his first real girlfriend, he made four best friends.


End file.
